Reported is a study to determine if a science vocabulary was necessary for successful achievement in science content and if this vocabulary was independent of social residence, intelligence and reading achievement. Two fifth grade groups, one from a suburban school and the other a rural school, took the Science Vocabulary Reading Test, the Lorge-Thorndicke Test of Intelligence and Nelson Reading Test. Multivariate analysis of variance was applied for testing the hypothesis that differences would occur between the groups and the hypothesis was not rejected. The suburban subjects scored at grade placement on Nelson Reading Test and rural subjects, below. The suburban subjects scored better on the verbal and non-verbal battery of the Lorge-Thorndike Test of Intelligence. There were no significant differences on the Science Vocabulary Reading Test. Supplementary research indicated that the reading level of the science text used by both groups may have been too difficult. (EB)